A Topsy-Turvy Training Session!?

[Vio]

Watching intently, albeit a little hesitantly, Scarlette Grimm-Rosa observed as Pluto adopted a rather basic and yet effective fighting stance. Admittedly, it was not once she was overly familiar with, but it was hard to say what she did and did not recognise when she had such a limited grasp of martial arts. Allowing her arms to fall to her sides once more, tension leaving from her clenched left fist, the red energy that encompassed her limb quickly spread out into its ghostly gaseous form before dissipating entirely. Indeed, the use of Hypertension required some degree of focus and concentration, the very things that were currently diverted towards her mentor. Still, it was at first quite difficult to make sense of the position that Pluto had taken up, fists raised before him and feet planted loosely upon the ground. His centre of gravity had been lowered somewhat, a feature which the gothic girl was a little more familiar with due to her own style of fighting. Keeping one's centre of gravity low and focused was a key to retaining one's balance, a key feature when you fought using a weapon that others might see as cumbersome.

"I... I don't really have a dominant arm?" the reaper woman commented, though such words were quickly lost in the midst of a conversation between the siblings. While Rebecca was more concerned about the fact that she had not been taught the fighting stance of the boxer, Scarlette was far more puzzled at the possibility of having to use one hand over the other. Most people in this world were right-handed, some preferred the left, but she had no particular preference. Indeed, she was ambidexterous, a useful trait to have if you considered the possibilities. However, at present it was something of a hindrance, forcing her to actively decide upon which would be her leading hand rather than being guided by instinct and comfort.

So, he understands how it works? But, does he know how strong it is... Thinking to herself as she listened to Pluto's comments upon Hypertension's forceful recoil, Miss Grimm-Rosa wondered just how much this man actually knew. Yes, he had likely caught glimpses of this power in action, especially after it had been used to send one foe flying into another with startling ease. However, she knew for a fact that he had yet to experience the true force this power possessed, never having been hit by an empowered attack. An observant individual may have been able to discern the kind of forces in effect, but there was no substitute for first hand experience. Until he suffered a blow like those used against Cerberus, then there was no way he would be able to truly understand the pressure and displacement involved.

"Why don't we give that Hypertension of yours a quick test run?" Pluto suggested, willing her to launch an attack against him. It was an almost mocking request, though of all the people, he was clearly in the best position to be able to do such a thing. Refraining from casting a serious glare in his direction, the dark-haired dame simply nodded in agreement, more than willing to try and put him in his place through actions rather than words. For a moment, she felt as if she had forgotten something important about this ability, but she could not recall any serious downfalls save for the level of coverage it offered and the painful but fleeting backlash. Taking a couple of steps back, she pulled back her right arm, conjuring the crimson essence and repeated the processes of before. The Tane Tane no Mi reacted to almost every aspect of her body - the tightening of her muscles included - and that was an aspect of the Devil Fruit that she was most intrigued by.

"Rebecca... It might be best if you stand back a bit," Scarlette warned, casting a slightly nervous glance in the direction of the youngest member. The reality was that this was the first time she had ever directly spoken to the girl, especially referencing her by name, and it felt quite strange to do so. For so long, she had struggled to say that name. Not because she found it a difficult thing to pronounce, mind you, but because her heart always seemed to want to replace it with Anna. Still, the child was quick to respond, putting a few additional feet between herself and her brother. Not exactly the biggest of gaps, but enough to ease the subtle qualms that the older one had. With that out of the way, she inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with as much oxygen as she deemed necessary. Hypertension alone did not decide who would be launched back, the result still dependent upon the colliding forces, and so she felt it absolutely necessary to place as much strength behind this next attack as she possibly could. If not to overwhelm her sparring partner, then to prove herself a more capable fighter.

"Hyaa!" Lunging forwards, chocolate hues locked with the violet eyes of her target, the ferocious femme threw a straight punch with her arm wreathed in coruscating carmine. Aiming directly for Pluto's head, identifying it as the easier area to land a blow against, her fist flew through the air with as much speed and power as she could manage. A clean hit could likely knock a boy of such proportions off his feet with ease, his resistance against the incoming force to become his vulnerability, but all that would be decided the moment her attack landed. If he were to block the attack with his clothed body, however, then what would the be the outcome? Normally her power was designed to pierce any material that was not alive, but did that only apply to bladed equipment? Such thoughts were only coming to her now, when it was already too late to cancel her attack...

SPOILER: Click to show

So, I only just recalled the fact that Hypertension's effect only works when striking against living organic matter, such as exposed flesh. And, after reading through Pluto's profile again, I realised that the only viable target areas are his head and hands? That makes things more interesting, actually, because if she hits a covered part then it will negate the knock back effect entirely and cause her to instead trigger the basic power of her Fruit?

Scarlette (990000)
Pluto (990099)

[BlacKitten]

This is going to be fun. It wasn’t like the two of them were engaged in a life or death situation; this was all for the sake of testing each other’s skills. One would be attacking at full force as the other would have to somehow handle such opposition without harm. His style in martial arts relied a lot on body mechanics to require less wasted energy. Anyone can do it, nothing more than skeletal alignment and a strong core. The abdomens –the core- were a crucial part to this as it acts as the link between his upper and lower body.

His little sister heeded the warning and stepped back to a safer distance. Her eyes refused to blink, eager to watch the two cursed individuals clash.

Once the battle cry was heard, Pluto readied himself mentally with his eyes watching the girl rushing in with the same red aura coated around her arm. He remained standing casually, waiting for the right timing to move. If he responded too early, his opponent would have time to adjust herself. If he responded too late, his opponent would be getting a free solid punch to his face. The distance between them was crucial. Different types of strikes required a certain distance to be effective. There was a range for kicks, a range for punches, a range for elbow and knee strikes, and a range of grappling. If it is a punch he is dealing with, then that fist of hers would be ready to launch out when there is roughly an arm’s length of gap between them. That would when he would respond, moving with the force itself at the same time.

His foot lifted off the ground before taking a half-step backwards that would transition his body into a wide and low stance. The hips sunk downwards in a relaxed state. The toes gently gripped the surface of the deck, creating a hollow section in the center of his feet. Roughly seventy percent of his went was towards his leading leg. Knees were bent but never beyond the alignment with the toes. Hands lifted up, loose and open. Elbows and shoulders were sinking downwards as if weights were attached to them. When the reddish fist was fired, he gently caught it without offering any resistance. A palm blocked the opposition in place as another hand softly supported the attack from beneath.

An giant surge of power entered through his bare hands, traveling into his arms before making its way down to the core of his body. From there, it continued its transfer down to his back leg, flowing down his knee and then his heel. Through this pathway, Pluto transferred the force from the top to the bottom. The one receiving the punishment wasn’t him but the ground itself. However, even that may not have been enough. The sound of cracks and splintering wood was heard as the increased weight on his back leg became too much for the deck itself to bear. Nevertheless, he remained calm because he had no other choice. Any tension and stress in his muscles would kink up the flow of energy which would have caused his entire structure to collapse. Even the tiniest shift in the angles of his arms could be disastrous. As simple as the concept of stances may be in theory, it wasn’t something that could be mastered casually. Ninety-nine percent of using it correctly would be one-hundred percent wrong.

This force is quite incredible. If I was only half-prepared, this would have already shoved me overboard.

The backwards force kicked in, causing Scarlette to stumble back a bit, officially ending their little test now that they were no longer in physical contact.

After a deep exhale through his nose, Pluto motioned his body back into a regular stand, taking his time to relax himself. Without having to take damage himself, he could literally feel that entire power running throughout his body. His eyes glanced at the splintered dent on the floor with crevices branching off like the roots of a plant. It wasn’t the first time that the ground beneath him cracks when transferring an opponent’s force.

What piqued Rebecca’s interest the most was that the stance used by her brother happened to be the same one she learned from him. It seemed as if it could make one an immovable mountain, but for the ground itself to crack like that, an even stronger force might have given the boy a bad foothold to continue on.

[Vio]

Her punch connecting with the skin of Pluto's palm, Scarlette Grimm-Rosa did not let up the force she was applying despite knowing that her attack had been interrupted. Connection was just the first stage, the second stage was about resistance. But alas, the boy in black did not resist her strike as she had originally believed he would, instead accepting the fluorescing fist as he moved to reinforce the cushioning defence. Maybe half a second passed by, but the effects were soon heard and felt, the rippling red essence rapidly expanding outwards and filling the air between them with a subtle scarlet shock wave. At the same time, the repelling forces generated were more than enough to send the woman herself stumbling backwards a few feet as she succumbed to poor balance. But the most prominent effect was the sound of wood giving beneath their feet, the energy directed into Pluto having instead been channeled throughout his entire body and into the deck of the Phlegyas. If a ship had a soul, this one would likely not forgive them for what had just transpired, several small splinters now protruding from the area of the deck over which the defender had stood.

"I didn't realise it had that much force..." Having regained her balance, the reaper woman took a few seconds to allow her body to recover from the ordeal, the downside of Hypertension being that she had to endure fleeting bouts of pain after landing an effective blow. The rapid and forceful dissipation of that magenta membrane was merely a visual effect to signify the success of such an attack, but it was she who felt the repercussions for doing so. There was an unnatural exchange of feeling when executing such an attack and, in this instance, the Tane Tane no Mi had decided to 'voice' its complaints by briefly replicating the pain of taking that very same punch (without the carmine coating) to the stomach area. Still, what was perhaps most startling about the outcome of her attack was the environmental effect, the visible cracks in the deck a tiny testament to the kind of force she could generate. Despite the immediate damage of her punch being nullified, drastically reduced even if she had landed it cleanly, the secondary effect was truly startling.

So if I knock someone into something else, I can deal more damage...? Assessing the outcomes within her mind, Miss Grimm-Rosa recalled the fight against Cerberus, none of her direct attacks having hindered him save for when she had launched him into the body of his own ally. And yet, neither man had cared much, save for the interruption. That, however, seemed to be more easily attributed to the durability of such men. The Berserker himself had seemed to fight through every blow without issue, so he was hardly the best subject to judge her own abilities upon. How quickly she could have turned that fight around had she known that she was capable of such force? The wall of a building would made a great target to smash her opponent into. But the gothic girl was not the type to care much about her environment when in the midst of combat. Perhaps, she thought, it was something she should start to consider, much like the many other random ideas that often came to mind.

"Hrm?" Scarlette grunted, looking to her hands and taking a few seconds to examine them with chocolate hues. There was nothing out of the ordinary about them at that moment in time, her behaviour perhaps seeming rather strange and nonsensical given the current circumstances, but in reality she was asking herself several important questions. Questions about possibilities that she had yet to really experiment with or think deeply about, in fact, and one such thing had come to mind in the midst of her test.

"Let's see if this works," she uttered, squatting down upon the deck and extending her left arm. Just as before, she sheathed it in luminous red miasma, but only enough to cover her fingers. She did not even condense it, either, just leaving it in its loose state that seemed to flow and eddy across her knuckles like ghostly water. And then, in one swift motion, she prepared middle and ring fingers and plunged them into the wooden deck before her. Up until now, the dark-haired damsel had only ever activated this power via the steely fang of her scythe or the sharp knives she concealed about her person, never before attempting such a skill with bare hands. She was uncertain whether or not it would work, but soon her thoughts were confirmed when her extremities pierced the wood just as easily as her scythe sheathed in red would have. As usual, the searing sensation found its way to her flesh as if she were digging into her own skin, focusing peculiar heat upon her upper back. Quickly, she drew her fingers across the deck from right to left, pulling them free as soon as she had finished forging a jagged dark line no greater than eighteen inches in length.

So it does... And I'll assume it works the same, even if I use Hypertension... Her suspicions confirmed, any doubts about the basis of her abilities had now been completely wiped from Scarlette's mind, allowing her to say for certain that even her body could function as an effective means of Homunculus creation. No longer did she need to be concerned about using a bladed tool when her own fingers could function identically thanks to her abilities, body acting almost as if it were a sword in its own right. Of course, there was no way she could slice somebody apart with her bare hands - such things made no sense. However, there was one other thing she wished to test, but for now that could wait. As Pluto had told her, using her Devil Fruit abilities - summoning her claret clones - was a precious waste of stamina. Energies which could be put to far better use. That was what she needed to learn before she attempted anything drastic; how to make use of such energy without need for her weapons or powers.

"So! What now?" Popping up from her position, she soon looked to her mentor once more, dismissing the fact that she had left a dark rift secreting wisps of ghostly red energy upon their training ground. There was no known limit to the number of such openings she could create, provided she could bear the pain of making each one, and it would soon fade away once several minutes had passed - as would the scar she had drawn upon her back while making it...

[BlacKitten]

Lurching over to the side, he cupped his hand at the side of his lips, whispering a few words into the twitching ear of his little sister. Rebecca then sprinted off into the ship in search for what her brother wanted, leaving the two older ones alone for the time being.

In response to Scarlette’s wonder on how to progress from here, Pluto replied, “You should continue experimenting with your powers whenever it’s convenient for you. Hypertension is certainly a useful discovery. It would complement quite nicely with some basic martial art skills. For the time being, learning how to throw a proper punch would be a good start.” During their little test run, he didn’t even budge from his spot while his opponent staggered a bit from the aftershock. This showed the difference in their mastery of their own body. It was time to turn this girl's body into a weapon itself whether that was for the better or worse. Sharing what he knows shouldn't be able to make her a too much of a threat for him. He ought to be careful by limiting how much information he is sharing.  

“Throwing an arm out isn’t what makes the punch strong. In fact, the arm is probably the least important body part in throwing a punch,” he stated confidently. It may sound counter-intuitive that striking with the arm had little to do with the actual limb in motion, but soon, the true source of strength was explained. “Never treat the arm as an isolation from the rest. Everything within you is connected. Power comes from every part of your body working as a single unit. There are three basic connections: the connection of you and the earth, the connection of your skeletal structure, and connection of you and your opponent.”

Hurried footsteps approached them as the little girl was revealed under the light. In her hands, she carried a thick stack of paper. Standard-sized, rectangular, each and every sheet appeared to be stained with words, so they served as unwanted leftovers from the previous owners. Rebecca settled the stack down on the deck near the boy who requested it, “There!”

Bending forth, Pluto peeled the top sheet of paper, holding it between his index finger and his thumb. “Gathering all of that power through the unison of the entire body is only step one. Once you can do that, you have to polish your movements, become sharper, faster, precise, and accurate. Like so,” he held up the sheet over his head and outwards in front of him before dropping it. Letting it fall a few inches, the paper had little time to start drifting by the air resistance. In a flash, the boy’s entire right arm seemed to have instantly displaced itself, shooting out in a blurred speed. It was a simple motion, nothing complex about it, yet it seemed different from most people’s punches. There was an element of elegance like the darting of a snake’s neck. The sound of loud ripping was heard as his hand punctured the paper thoroughly, leaving a fist-sized hole in the center that was filled in by his wrist.

If done by amateurish punches, the flimsy paper would have just concaved upon impact, but on a higher level, one can achieve the power of penetration. “The impact points are the two big knuckles on your hand. In principle, the shape of the hand does not matter. It could be a palm strike or darting fingers. What really matters is striving to have 100% of your body weight behind each and every blow.”

More and more variables and factors pours out of his mouth. “To achieve speed, you must not tense up. Muscles must be relaxed. Have the deck of this ship connect to your feet to the knees, hips, abdomens, shoulders, elbows, and then the hands. That is the linkage that I use. Your body is the pathway for the energy to flow between the ground and the hands. At the moment your energy flows into your core, you can rotate your waist to generate the power if you choose to, depending on what kind of punch you use,” he continued bombarding the girls on the fine details on a seemingly simple topic. Everyone knew the action of throwing a punch to some degree, but not many could explain all the little, nitpicking details. In fact, Pluto only scratched the tip of the iceberg. There were still many more things that could be said and it could take him hours to explain. There was timing, distance, rhythm, variations, targeted areas, etc...  

Slipping her fingers halfway, Rebecca carried half of the stack over by Scarlette, settling it down, “Now you try!” The way the little one acted made it clear that she had done this exercise before. 

“Just so you’re not punching air, even paper can be used as target practice,” he offered the paramecia-user a new challenge to overcome. And… this activity will prevent the ship from cracking.

[Vio]

"Learning how to throw a proper punch would be a good start," Pluto replied, proceeding to explain what seemed like an awfully convoluted process for such a simple action. Indeed, Scarlette Grimm-Rosa struggled to get her head around all the things that were being said, her mind seemingly incapable of putting together the pieces of the puzzle that were being provided to her. Even if said pieces were given in order, it was a complicated thing. How, she wondered, could all that was being said affect a punch so much? Shattered was the common belief that a punch was nothing more than a fast and powerful propulsion of the fist, the Zoan user instead trying to tell her that such things stemmed from the very Earth itself. Alas, such explanations were often wasted upon her, but this was different. She had asked to be taught how to fight without steel or sickle - without depending upon her Homunculi - and so it was that she at least tried to let this complicated knowledge sink in. Unfortunate that that was not happening.

Paper...? Rebecca returning from within the vessel with a stack of paper in hand, chocolate hues watched uncertainly as her mentor took one such sheet up and allowed it to fall through the air. The swiftest strike came from him, body seeming to shift ever so slightly, but the result was immediate. A clenched fist had forced its way through the fibres of the falling parchment, perforating it with startling ease, much as if knuckles had become knives. That kind of power was amazing, the look upon the older woman's pallid visage clearly expressing her surprise at this display of force. Little did she know the reality of it all, but that was one of those lessons she needed to learn sooner rather than later. The ability to replicate such an effect would drastically improve her damage output when unnarmed, but what about when Hypertension was applied to it? Truthfully, a piece of paper was not something she could use to test such possibilities, said opportunity required a live subject.

"Now you try!" Violet eyes looking up at her, Miss Grimm-Rosa found herself presented with a piece of paper provided from the pile. A simple object with some illegible scrawl upon it, likely once important to the men who had once used the ship upon which they sailed, it was supposed to be her target. Accepting the sheet, she held it high in her left hand before allowing it to fall from her fingers, fluttering down towards the deck. Confidence (or perhaps cockiness?) taking over, a clenched fist was soon formed with her right hand as she took aim at the descending documentation. Twisting her waist, just as Pluto had said, the darkly-dressed dame unleashed yet another punch.

It did not connect.

"Huh?" Watching as the paper skirted about her arm like a leaf in an autumn breeze, the reaper woman was at first quite confused about how her attack had managed to be avoided by an inanimate object, failing to realise the fact that her own force had allowed it to do such a thing. Unlike the young man's own attack, which had been swift and steady, her's had been brimming with pure force. Unrefined energy such as her own was incapable of doing much more than superficial damage to that which was lithe and flexible, the paper demonstrating such a fact by using her own energies against her. Brute force had displaced the air, creating a natural field of force that preceded the punch. That same shock wave was the cause for the paper's movements, but such simple facts of science were things she was oblivious towards. Not willing to be bested so easily by a piece of paper, she snatched it back up from the decking and repeated the process, this time throwing a punch with her left arm instead of her right. The result was the same.

"Why can't I hit it!?" Once, twice, three times more did Scarlette repeat the attempt at landing a blow against the page. Her fifth attempt was at least successful in striking clean, though that did not prevent the scripture from absorbing and bending to the force used. And that was when she realised a striking similarity between the paper and Pluto. Both were swift and evasive, easily capable of dodging attacks with seemingly little effort, and both had defended against her attack in exactly the same way. Rather than directly oppose her strikes, both had conformed to them, accepting the energies and channeling them elsewhere in order to negate damage.

Hypertension... That's why! Pluto said not to tense up! Realisation coming to her so suddenly, the frustrated femme finally seemed to understand the principles which her company had been trying to explain to her. Each punch she had thrown so far had been tense, her muscles straining to achieve raw power over speed, believing that force was the key to success. That, however, was not the case. Force, it appeared, could be just as easily achieved through speed. Yes, she had been using her waist to empower her punches further, but not to accelerate her attacks. That was where she was going wrong. Inhaling and exhaling, calming herself, she made one last attempt. Paper picked up, cast into the air, she readied her right hand for the blow she aimed to deliver. A ray of sunlight reflected off dark irises, revealing a glimmer of red as pupils reflected the imagery of the paper before her. This time, she started from her feet, allowing her ankles to shift and twist. That energy ascended a spiral staircase, rapidly flowing up through her body. Knees, waist, shoulders. Every inch of her body save for her head experienced movement in the same manner, the whirlwind of force racing down her arm as she extended it.

"Tch!?" Watching as the paper tumbled to the floor yet again, the sheet having folded to absorb her strike as before, it was no surprise that this most recent failure was getting to her. After finally understanding the instructions given, the Offspring Human had still failed to replicate the result. Or, at least, that was what she had believed. As the paper came to rest upon the deck between her and Pluto, her eyes caught a glimpse of progress. In the midst of the target lay distinct tearing, a slight rift carved through the sheet that was barely visible. Uncertain, she stepped forwards and picked it up, twisting the paper slightly to reveal a gaping hole she had managed to make. Though her fist had not pierced the page entirely, her attack had been good enough to at least rip it enough for her knuckles to pass through...

[BlacKitten]

This little exercise wasn’t particularly common or well-known. Anything could become a useful tool for training, even paper. However, Pluto had given a seemingly impossible task despite his demonstration. Truthfully, the paper would have at least a string attached to it, hanging from a ceiling for the practitioner to repeatedly attempt to penetrate it. One string would be harder than two strings due to less support. Moreover, the size of the paper also affected the difficulty. Smaller ones were much harder than larger ones. For him to show the girls with no strings with a not-so-large sheet of paper, he had set the difficulty level quite high up as if to stall some time. Even highly-skilled combatants would struggle with such a task. Only a highly refined punch could achieve the result.

“Huh?” His eyes sharpened when there was a little hole on the sheet that Scarlette held up somewhere after her sixth attempt. “Pfft… beginner’s luck,” he pouted quietly to himself. That last punch… she’s getting better. Well, it was only some minor adjustments, but it seems she’s starting to get the hang of it. Tensing the muscles would only slow you down. There are two ways to deliver more force. You can either increase the mass of your body or the acceleration of the movement. Then if you can concentrate all of that force into a condensed, focused point of impact, you will have achieved the art of penetrating your target.

Contrary to almost everything he had just said and believed, that technique from a while ago known as Tekkai made usage of highly tensed up muscles to block attacks through rigidness. Naturally, that tension prevented one from moving, but to use it in such a manner challenged his beliefs on being relaxed. As much as he hated to admit it, that abomination of a technique inspired him for a new transformation, but he had no intention in revealing it any time soon.

Even though this paramecia-user happened to be his ally, it was best to keep a few tricks and secrets up his sleeve in case she ever becomes a threat to him. That twisted up philosophy of hers made every living entity an enemy in her eyes, and he was probably not an exception here. The only thing that protected him from her was likely the existence of little sister as ironic as that sounded. Each time Scarlette made progress, it brought him a mental state of curiosity and annoyance. She was a double-edged sword. The stronger she gets, the most useful she becomes. On the flip side, the stronger she gets, the more of a potential threat she becomes.

“Pluto!” A childish tone cried out. “My turn! Teach me next!” Rebecca wanted to learn more, deeming this as an appropriate time.

The boy crossed his arms and looked away, pondering in deep thought. His sister was a similar case. The stronger she was, the easier it becomes to protect her. On the flip side, the stronger she was, the harder it becomes for him to evade and escape her spine-shattering, rib-cracking hugs. He then looked back at those large innocent eyes of eagerness to learn. I don’t like where this is going. Both of them learn too fast. Rebecca was somewhat of a copycat, having mimicking the movements of her brother beforehand, including the maneuvers of her brother’s mentor. After some modifications, adjustments, and discipline, she molded what she knows into her own style. However, this girl had two modes of combat, one against Pluto specifically and one against anyone else. As if it originated from her clinginess, she would adopt a grappling-level style against him while using spiral movements against others. In a way, he was afraid of her because escaping her was a pain to his joints, and her energetic nature would outlast him in stamina as well.

“You’ll get your turn later,” he whispered frantically while praying inside that she would cooperate at least this once.

“Humph,” the little one jerked her head away with a frown. Suddenly, her lips flipped into a mischievous smile as her arms shot out to clutch him by the waist.

While desperately trying to step back and retreat, Pluto realized that he reacted too late as the arms wrapped around him instinctively. Even if he could unbalance her, she would just weigh him down. She could either drag him to the ground with him or simply hang off of him like a sloth on a branch. Hands pushed against her shoulders, the boy repeatedly tried to shove her off to no avail.

[Vio]

Beginner's luck? Was that what it was? Or was it just latent skills finally blossoming? Regardless of the answer to that question, Scarlette Grimm-Rosa had managed to succeed in a task that her mentor had believed she would fail repeatedly. But what Pluto did not account for, perhaps what he did not know all too well, was that this new pupil of his was an unnervingly fast learner. Not hindering herself with the same educational requirements that many would have, failing at what would be considered typical life skills, she instead focused a large amount of brain power on learning new methods of murdering and defending herself. Whether through accidental discovery or inspiration from outside sources, she had always been rather quick to pick up on the more peculiar things, and learning to throw a good punch was no exception. Indeed, her mind was already at work giving 'life' to these newly developed skills and abilities, crude day dreams teasing her conscious thoughts with the prospect of attacks that could send enormous foes flying across entire islands.

Let's see then... Always one to continually test her abilities, straining herself to exceed limitations, the reaper woman quickly took up a second sheet of paper from the pile and let it fall through the air. Once more, she drew back her clenched fist, adjusting her entire body in clearly defined steps so as to throw a second 'perfect' punch. Through the air her attack sailed with startling speed and precision, landing true against the parchment once again. While this second attempt was still incapable of piercing clean through the page as Pluto's own punch had done, Scarlette was able to at least replicate the effect of her first successful strike, once more tearing the paper with her bare knuckles. At this point, luck was probably playing a key role in her success rate, but that was exactly her reason for repeating the motions several times over. Each and every punch was slightly more fluid than the last, some damaging the documents she used while others simply crumpled them around her hand. Both left and right hands received the same amount of 'training' until, eventually, she felt she had had enough.

"So, what next?" Miss Grimm-Rosa asked after several minutes of punching papers, now having managed to put holes of varying sizes in at least a third of the sheets provided. One had actually been punched so hard that it had travelling a couple of yards away from her, her knuckles causing it to fold into a surprisingly aerodynamic wedge. Accidental, of course. But if she could do that to something like paper, she could imagine the kind of power Hypertension would be able to achieve against live targets. Still, she knew that punching was not the only aspect of martial arts, though it was perhaps one of the most famous. The next step, she honestly believed, was learning to launch kicks. Numerous men she had ran into had used such attacks against her, some of them landing hits that had very nearly knocked her off her feet, and to replicate those kicks would add yet another degree to her already intensifying level of skill and power.

"Oh! Oh! I know! Teach me how to kick!" Enthused by this training regime which she was now a part of, the dark-haired damsel hopped cheerily on the spot like a schoolgirl, awaiting her next lesson. A smile upon her face, eyes alight with anticipation, the crazed killer seemed to have taken on an entirely different personality all of a sudden. Or, at least, a side of her which few got to witness and live to tell the tale. However, this ecstasy and energy was not being channeled for the sake of merciless bloodshed, instead being an innocent and unintentional throwback to her past. To be taught as she wanted. This was, in all honestly, like a dream to her. A dream which she could put to good use...

[BlacKitten]

Leaning against the railing, he sat there with his eyes closed shut and legs crisscrossed, taking a very light nap. A part of his mind was dozing off while the other part had some level of consciousness about his surroundings. Anything could wake him up in this state of half consciousness. Rebecca was fast asleep with her head rested against his shoulder and arms wrapped around as if he was a stuffed animal. Her position indicated that her brother had given up in escaping her bind.

The sudden sound of a familiar voice woke him up, “huh?” His head drifted side to side before locking on sight at the reddish-brown-eyed girl. Watching someone doing a repetitive task never seemed to be the most exciting thing in the world, and on top of that, spending his time at night disrupted his sleep schedule recently. His little sister on the other hand slept whenever she felt like it, basing it entirely on her mood.

Now this woman wanted to learn how to perform kicks. A sigh came out of him as if he had to do some sort of chore, “You and Rebecca sure are impatient with the learning part. Just because you learned something doesn’t mean you can use it. Only when it becomes ingrained into your instincts can you fully rely upon it. But…,” he paused for a moment, feeling a shiver down his spine by the smile on the murderer’s face. “Since you’re so eager, perhaps a change of pace is good.” Slipping away from the constriction of the little girl, he stood up while waking her up in the process.

Personally, he preferred using his hands over his feet in attacking. The action of hurling the leg out left his balance vulnerable to be shaken. “As I said before, every strike made should strive to have 100% of your body weight behind it. A kick is no exception. It isn’t simply swinging the leg out. If you want to deliver maximum power, you kick with entire body.” His head turned aside, glimpsing at the little one with his side vision, “Rebecca, show Scarlette how to kick.” He didn’t feel like demonstrating this time.

“Hmm?” Rubbing her eyes with both hands, the youngest member on board had just fully woken up. “What kind of kick?”

“Front kick,” he responded as such a technique would be the easiest one to start out with. “And do it in slow motion,” the boy added. If the demonstration was done too fast, Scarlette would have a harder time picking out the little details.  

Stepping up, she faced her brother at a certain distance. Slowly, her knees rose upwards before sliding her body forward while kicking up and outwards. The heel of her foot was the first to make contact against Pluto’s blocking forearm.

“Raise up the knee, strike with the heel then the toes, thrust the hip forward for the kick to penetrate the target. Your supporting leg will pivot around forty-five degrees as you do so. This is the front kick. When the hip thrust out, the back leans back slightly with an arched spine to compensate the balance. Now, do a roundhouse kick,” he commanded. His sister settled her leg down before repositioning herself to be perpendicular relative to the boy. Her knee rose up while pivoting on her supporting foot more than ninety degrees. She twisted her hip, kicking horizontally before her leg ended with a downward motion.

Pluto blocked the slow-motion technique with his hand held up at the side of his head, “The objective here is to knock down the opponent, so you end with a downward motion.” Despite the difference in height, the girl had great flexibility to be able to aim her attacks towards his head. “Now, do a side-kick,” the next one was demonstrated. The girl remained perpendicular to the boy like before. Her knee rose up before the leg extended to the side as her supporting foot pivoted roughly ninety degrees away from her target, causing her hip to drive outwards to deliver the power. While she leaned back a bit, her torso never turned away from the target. “Ax kick,” he named another type of kick.

This time, Rebecca faced her brother head on. Her leg was kept straight while being lifted at a slight diagonal motion across her body. Then, she swung down her straightened leg diagonally downwards and across the boy’s body. Her hip was driven forward with her back arched in the process.

“Despite being broken into little steps here, an advanced practitioner would raise their leg and kick simultaneously,” the lecturer added.

[Vio]

"You and Rebecca sure are impatient with the learning part," Pluto replied, letting out a sigh as he climbed back up to his feet. As far as she could remember, Scarlette Grimm-Rosa had never once seen the boy in black rely upon any sort of kick, but that was not to say he did not know how to use them. If he did not, then - well, it would quickly douse her high spirits. Fortunately, he started to explain the basics to her but, instead of demonstrating them by himself, he called upon Rebecca to do it. This would be the first time that the little girl had demonstrated any kind of fighting skill in the presence of the older woman, which was both a little startling and also reassuring. Regardless, she watched with bated breath as the siblings unveiled a series of increasingly more complicated kicks, from a simple forward strike to a twisting blow to a downward attack. Four different leg attacks, all demonstrated as slowly as the little one could physically manage without losing her balance, allowing the watcher to take in every little detail that she dared pay attention to. Admittedly, she lacked the same level of observation as many, but every little ounce of focus her brain possessed was being channeled into this lesson.

"How come all kicks hit with the heel?" Noticing the recurring point of impact in each of the four attacks unleashed, the gothic girl was quick to question what many were unlikely to point out. Some may have seen it is a basic part of any kick, but she did not see it that way, finding herself needing an answer rather than making deductions on her own. Being a fast learner did not necessarily mean you were highly intelligent, Scarlette being proof of that fact. At first she cast chocolate hues to Pluto, anticipating an answer from her mysterious mentor, but it was none other than the one who had demonstrated the kicks that answered.

"Ooh! It's because you get more force that using your toes!" Clearly having learned a lot from her brother's training, Rebecca seemed rather willing to share what she had been taught, perhaps becoming a little more attached to the reaper woman now that they had spent more time together. It was hardly sibling love, the bond between the two violet eyed individuals being incomprehensibly strong, but it did make Scarlette feel more at ease. Miss Grimm-Rosa, of course, was the one most uncertain about their relationship. Though there was no way of confirming it, she still considered the possibility that the girl may have harboured a lack of complete trust, likely the reason why she spent so much time with her brother. It could have been just her clingy nature, but it might have even been something more, the innocent angel seeing herself as a sort of body guard. It was an unusual triangular relationship, what with Scarlette and Pluto both wanting to protect Rebecca, but said connections made sure that the dark-haired damsel was the furthest apart from the centre. Maybe, she had told herself, that was for the best...

Much as before, when she had been practicing her punches, Scarlette spent several long minutes getting to grips with the concepts she had just been taught. This time, however, Rebecca seemed willing to show her the movements required to execute such attacks at full speed. Flexibility granted by her youth, the little girl was not exactly the strongest of people when it came to raw physical power, but her sense of balance and range of mobility surpassed that of the average adult by quite some margin. Indeed, it was all the pallid one could do to replicate said motions, falling over due to lack of balance on several occasions (though that may well have had something to do with the fact that they were aboard a moving vessel). There was no denying that kicks were harder to execute than punches, that much she was quickly made aware of by repeated failures, but the tenacious terror was not about to give in. Practice, as the saying goes, makes perfect. Eventually, she was able to perform an accurate kick, raising her right leg up and allowing her knee to fold before unleashing the pent up energy without suffering from loss of balance.

"Okay! I can punch! And I can kick!" Pleased with her own rapid progress, Scarlette demonstrated the sharp and fluid movements of her newly refined attacks to her mentor. The first, a swift punch, was now nearly as fast as the strikes she had been shown. Still, nowhere near as precise as to offer penetrative power, but efficient all the same. The second demonstration, a high kick, was just as swift. However, it also offered Pluto an unintentional view of her underwear, revealing not only the effectiveness of her strikes but also how awkward such attacks were when wearing a dress. Not that she cared, of course, for she lacked any sense of modesty towards such trivial matters as the black colour of her smalls. To be fair, her garb revealed little flesh whatsoever. Head, neck, forearms and hands were the only parts of her body on display at all times, which was more than could be said for other women of her age range. The only other skin to be shown was her upper thighs, hidden beneath the skirt of her dress, the rest of her legs covered by stockings of black and white banding. "What's next?"

"I know! How about you spar with Pluto?" For a moment, the devilish dame looked at Rebecca with disbelief, not expecting such a suggestion to have come from the girl's mouth. After all, she had been the one to interfere with the first fight that the two had been engaged in. That fight, however, had been a fight to the death taking place on the streets of Amino Island. The use of her scythe and Homunculi had not been prohibited back then, but that was also because she had possessed an entirely different intent. Now, rather than channeling a deep intent to kill, Scarlette carried inside the desire to learn and develop. Even now, she knew that it was unlikely that she could ever defeat Pluto in a fair contest of strength, but Rebecca's proposal was in regards to training. A fight for the sake of learning, not a drop of malice in one another's actions. Curiously, the two women looked at Pluto, awaiting his response...

SPOILER: Click to show

Permission to NPC Rebecca was granted!

[BlacKitten]

What pestered him was seeing the girl seemingly feeling to be done with the kicking aspect after watching her learning it just recently. With her constant asking what is next, she was rushing too much, becoming a jack-of-all-trades, proficient at none of them. While it was great that someone was willing to learn with such enthusiasm, he couldn’t help but sense Scarlette possessed a little too much faith in her own capabilities in punching and kicking. If there had been any grain of doubt in her mind, she should have stuck to it and continue on perfecting the movements. To put it simply, no one would ever be finished with training and learning. No matter how much one may believe to have mastered a skill, there would always be a new threshold to surpass. Even the mentor did not believe to have mastered the basics of punching and kicking. Those movements were far more intricate and complex than simple memorization. Martial arts cannot be mastered from mimicking the outside appearance. The act of monkey-see-monkey-do was merely the first stage in the process, but perhaps it was better this way. A lesson like this might be best learnt through experience instead of words. Perhaps a day would come where the girl return back to solidify the basic foundation.

Most intriguingly, his little sister suggested that they spar with one another, bringing both curiosity and hesitance in his mind simultaneously. Perhaps he was afraid that this could turn out into bloodshed if anything ticked within that murderous mind of hers. However, as long as Rebecca remained present, even Scarlette wouldn’t dare commit to such extreme measures. Throughout their time together, the older girl had been rather well-behaved when it came to the youth. Since the youngling already knew about both of their cursed powers, nothing truly prevented the two from utilizing them. Preferably, they ought to avoid damaging the ship, so both them would have to hold back to some extent if this fight was to be carried out.

The two girls had their eyes directed at him, waiting to see if he would agree with the idea. Pluto stood there with a straighter spine, quickly heightening his senses as if danger was imminent. He could hear what he couldn’t have heard before, the sound of water rushing along the side of their vessel. When his concentration became lax, even the most obvious of sounds became silent due to its irrelevance. Over time, he must have grown too adapted to his environment that his brain must have dulled the stimuli, deeming them to be unworthy of being sensed. With a vigilant attitude that he slipped into, all of that changed. The smell of fresh, salty air, the sensation of ship tilting ever so slightly beneath his feet, these were things that could only be noticed if he tried to. At the same time, it wasn’t as though he was flooding himself with these sort of thoughts. His mind had to be quiet, empty, and tranquil, leaving no emotional expression on his visage or demeanor.

“Alright then, I accept. This would be a good warm-up for all of us before handling the challenges that the Grand Line has to offer,” the boy voiced his answer before locking his eyes into his prime target, focusing nothing in particular, merely the outline of her entire figure. He showed very little signs of hostile intentions from his lack of fighting stance. Standing there erectly with a healthy posture, his hands were brought together near his crotch with a grip onto his own wrist, hanging there loosely. His knees were secretly bent ever so slightly, but it wasn’t so apparent with the dark clothes being worn.

“I’m ready. Will you make the first move or should I?” His neutral-looking mien made it rather tedious for anyone trying to read or anticipate him. Without following her along with his pupils, he could vaguely see Rebecca stepping aside at his side vision with the intent of watching the two of them fight it out.

It was true that the two had fought once back on Amino Island where Scarlette initiated the attack out of the blue after indiscriminately slaying any lives on sight. Back then, the boy was mostly evasive, counterattacking once in a while, but their conflict ended abruptly with Rebecca intervened, effectively putting the violence to a completely halt. That was the day where they first met the paramecia-user as well as the day where they formed an alliance.

[Vio]

"I'm ready," Pluto said, adopting something akin to a fighting stance. For Scarlette Grimm-Rosa, such a manner of positioning seemed unusual to her, but even she knew better than to question this young man's combat ability. Why else would she have called upon his aid in the first place, if she did not trust in his skills? Trust. Maybe not the greatest choice of words to explain their relationship, but it was the only thing that came to mind at the time. All that was to be decided was who would make the first move. For a moment it was silent, the ship rocking a little to port as a stronger wave rolled beneath the hull, but soon steadying itself again. An ideal battlefield would have been flat and still, but the open deck of the Phlegyas was the best the world could currently offer to them. Taking in a deep breath, the gothic girl adopted her own fighting stance, loosely miming the boxing stance she had been shown earlier. It was not an exact mirror, her legs and knees bent for stability rather than mobility, body twisted slightly to the right. Her right hand was held to her flank, fingers curled loosely into a fist, while her left arm was positioned in front of her as a sort of guard.

"I'll go first!" This was not a unique stance, in truth, but a variation of one she already depended upon. Back on Amino Island, when she had fought against the formidable swordswoman known as Marianne, that woman had relied upon a rather interesting technique that embodied both speed and power. She called it 'Sparrowhawk', though the correlation between the namesake avian and the motions themselves had eluded Scarlette. A low, swift dash to pass by the target while unleashing a forceful horizontal swing of the blade. It could easily have sliced a man's stomach open, the vicious vixen herself having barely been able to block the manoeuvre - her scythe still bore the notch where the blade had dug into the snaith. Since then, she had taken note of the ability used and developed her own version of it, but she had never had the chance to unleash it. This was as close to it as she had gotten, though her hands did not grip the shaft of her signature weapon, instead forming fists.

I don't need to use Hypertension. Just landing a hit would do... Gathering her strength, Miss Grimm-Rosa quickly assessed the needs of the challenge at hand, finding no real reason to make use of her Devil Fruit as of yet. Hypertension, while highly effective, could end up doing more harm than good to their own ship. And, as someone cursed by the sea, the last thing she wanted to do was make their only reliable means of crossing it sink. Darting forwards, clenching the fist of her right hand, the energetic esper quickly closed the short distance between herself and her target. Pluto did not move. Violet eyes were focused upon her, likely calculating every little action she made. He was good at that. Still, once she had placed herself within arms reach, she planted her left heel against the deck and twisted. Fight foot slipped forwards, following her unwinding motion and propelling her right arm forwards with speed and precision. Her aim was to land a clean blow against the young man's head or upper body, and her attack was right on target.

Huh!? Chocolate hues watched in surprise as her hand completely missed, sailing straight past the defender without so much as disturbing a hair upon his head. His movements swift and silent, Pluto had easily been able to predict where the attack was going and move accordingly, shifting his stance ever so slightly and yet managing to completely avoid being caught. Such was the skill of her meticulous mentor, but still it startled her. Consistently she had managed to increase her own speed and physical strength, slowly but steadily, but still this individual remained superior to her. However, she only had herself to blame. Such predictable attacks were often defended against or avoided with ease by the wary combatant, Scarlette herself able to estimate where an incoming blow was going to land and adjust herself accordingly. It was perhaps a matter of perspective, but she was sure her strike had been too fast for him to dodge. Alas, she had a lot left to learn, but was not about to allow such a simple failure get the better of her.

If this was a real fight, he could easily land a hit now... Fully aware of her vulnerability, but never fazed by such a thing unless it was an absolute matter of life and death, Scarlette allowing the momentum of her body to continue flowing. The whole concept of using momentum to strengthen your attacks was not at all alien to her, her own style of wielding her scythe relying upon near identical principles. Consistent, elegant twirls and spirals turned a tool designed solely for cutting grain into a weapon capable of slicing off limbs. All that mattered was the generation, maintenance, and effective use of such energy. Pulling her arm up and back towards her, the dancing damsel instead channeled whatever remaining energy she had built back down through her body. This time, her left heel was pulled away from the wooden deck, instead spinning about on her right foot and curling her body around.

It's exactly the same, just with my body instead of my scythe! Now appreciating the similarities between styles, the smiling siren transitioned from a straight punch into a powerful reversed roundhouse kick, leg swinging through the air and her foot heading high. At the last second, she pulled her leg down sharply, aiming for Pluto's body as her own form entered the final twist...

SPOILER: Click to show

Permission's been granted to make use of one another's character's for this fight!

[BlacKitten]

The battle between Scarlette and Pluto was about to begin. This would be the second time that they went up against each other, making this round two. Not only would this reaffirm their understandings of each other’s capabilities, their understandings of themselves were just as important. What one can and can’t do: a vital part of being a fighter meant knowing the strengths and weaknesses of oneself. No matter how biased the boy felt that he could handle this opponent, his mind still entered into the habit of being watchful of how the adversary functioned in combat. Just as the woman stated, she was going to initiate the attack, leaving him with non-violent stance. Unlike the girl, his arms weren’t even raised; his hands weren’t even clenched into fists. His demeanor had no signs of hostile intentions, simply standing there with a deceptively balanced position. Everything about him was neutral, facing head on with all four limbs capable to striking if need be.

On first impression, it would seem his foe had adapted a stabilized stance akin to that of a street fighter. In addition to his awareness of the girl’s limited arsenal of techniques, he expected that the majority of her moves –if not all- would be consisted of punches and kicks. Therefore, there were two or three particular ranges he had to be wary of. The fourth range –grappling range- would only be something he had to be scared of if it was Rebecca being his opponent. For her, it would be more correct to refer to it as hugging range. Now since Scarlette often used her scythe for an extended reach, he could only imagine that she preferred long-distanced attacks as a form of psychological preference.

As expected, in order for her to attack, she needed to get in close, and that was exactly what the older one did. Closing in the gap between them, the attacker had initiated the offense. The final step on her left foot along with the distance immediately suggested that she would attack with the hand. If the concept of distance was broken down, this would be punching range. Violet eyes stayed glued onto the shoulders and then the elbows in order to determine which side would be discriminated. Intercepting her timing, Pluto shifted his head to the side as something shot past the side of his neck. While the arm had to travel a few feet to land a blow, his head only had to move a few inches in order to stay out of the trajectory of the fist that entered his side vision. He mustn’t look directly at the fist in order to react for any follow-up moves, and since he did not intend to counterattack as of yet, there was certainly going to be a move after this.

From aside, Rebecca scrutinized the details of the sparring match underway. That punch was decent, but you won’t hit him with something as predictable as that on the very first move.

Scarlette took a half-step back, entering into kicking range. From there, no punches could reach him no matter how long the technique was, so the boy paid closer attention to the hips.

Every move can only be used efficiently at a certain distance. Elbow strikes, knee strikes, uppercut, and hooks would all fall under the category of the same range which is a half-step closer than the range of a straight punch. Depending how far away you are from him, Pluto can anticipate your next move by crosses of elimination. Scarlette and my brother are about the same height as well. The length of their arms and legs are about the same. That makes it even easier for him to calculate.

When it comes to distances, he didn’t even have to care at all about what sort of kicks she intended on using. The moment he took a half-step back himself, the distance between them was too great for any kind of kicks to reach him. It didn’t matter what style or form they were using; there were some concepts and principles that remained the same no matter what. Knowing this wasn’t enough; it also took a considerable level of timing to shift forward and back. If done too soon, his opponent can adjust midway. If done too late, he would take a direct hit.

A reverse roundhouse kick was unleashed with a downward ending. It was truly a tricky move for anyone on the receiving end, especially when used right after a completely obvious and simple move. The contrast of complexity between the consecutive techniques would have probably caught many fighters off guard.  

Taking the initiative just when the kicking leg was retracting, Pluto lunged forth into a distance closed then ever before while utilizing a low stance with his leading foot aimed to press on top of Scarlette’s foot. Simultaneously, his fist shot upwards and outwards into an uppercut aimed at the jawline. If struck, it may cause the victim to be temporarily disoriented. The cruel part here was the hindrance of this move being evaded as long as he succeeded in pinning down the opponent’s foot.

[Vio]

He dodged again!? Once more, Pluto's swiftness proved superior to her own, Scarlette Grimm-Rosa's leg missing the young man entirely as she brought her foot down. All he had done was step back a little, but the speed and timing in which he had done it had been near enough unpredictable, denying the opportunity for subtle adjustments. There was no denying that she had developed quickly, but that mattered little at present. What she had thought to have been a successful punch had been avoided and, to her surprise, her swift and graceful follow up had been just as easily escaped. However, her opponent was more prepared to retaliate this time - or more willing to do so. As her heel came down, the dark figure stepped forwards, trapping her foot beneath his own and pulling himself even closer than before. Practically aligned with her body, all the startled siren could do was look down at him as Pluto fired a swift uppercut. His entire form twisted, unwinding like a spring and channeling the force into his fast approaching arm.

Thwack!

Vision swimming unevenly, the dark-haired damsel teetered back upon her supporting leg, doing everything in her power to endure the unusual effects of the blow she had just taken. By no means was it a forceful hit, her opposition likely having held back to avoid serious harm, but that did not diminish the effectiveness of such a strike. Allowed freedom of movement once more, she wobbled uncertainly even as both feet rested evenly upon the ship's deck, her balance having been momentarily stolen from her as the energy of the uppercut rattled through her skull. It made her curious as to what kind of ability this young man possessed, oblivious to the fact that any blow to the jaw could cripple a person in such a way. Still, balance was a core aspect of her own personal fighting style, but her rate of recovery alone was not going to protect her from what followed.

"Uff!" Barely a second had passed since the uppercut had landed, and already Pluto had adjusted his stance, striking true against his target's abdomen with his elbow. An unusual blow, but effectively crippling. Doubling over slightly, her gut seeming to lurch and tense awkwardly as she recalled a similarly sense-altering situation from just an hour or two ago, Scarlette struggled to steady her insides. On land, she was fine with jerking about and twirling around, but at sea? Well, even the gentle rolling of the waves upon which they currently sailed seemed to be unsettling her. She was not used to this, whatsoever, her visage paling a little and her eyes losing some of their crimson lustre. For a few seconds after the impact she just stood there, trying to calm her mind and body and focus on the task at hand, eventually regaining her composure. Refusing this chance to become stronger simply because she had encountered one of her more human weaknesses was not something she was going to do, tenaciously straightening her stature and resuming her fighting stance.

Ugh, my stomach... Wincing a little as her muscles complained about the blow she had just received, the entire midriff of Miss Grimm-Rosa seemed to be against her decisions at this moment in time, preventing her from twisting herself as greatly as she had done previously. This was the aspect of hand-to-hand combat which stood out most; striking your opponent in such a way as to debilitate them, overcoming them through skill rather than raw strength. But that was also the concept that she found most difficult to make sense of, often doing it unintentionally. While almost every attack she made was intended to kill or do serious damage, she never really considered the underlying properties it had of wearing down her opponents. Victims were forced to block and dodge, but even the best martial artists would eventually be worn down, allowing her to land a cleaner hit. If she needed to hinder someone, then she depended upon her Homunculi, for the ability to weigh somebody down with them was their only real use.

I shouldn't let up! The more I attack, the more likely I'll hit! Preparing herself once again, the vicious vixen darted forwards and back into melee range, this time attempting something a little different. Before, she had thrown a punch with her right hand, but this time she tried a different tactic. Body unwinding on the final step, she tried to throw a sort of spinning punch, left hand arcing around her to strike against her foe's side rather than a straight strike. In the end, it became something of an overarm, her right leg rising behind her to help with balance and momentum as her left arm came down towards the body of her sparring partner...

[BlacKitten]

He felt the solid connection between his knuckles to the jawline, soon watching the girl stagger backwards by the disorientation of her balance. Since his opponent attempted two consecutive strikes, it only seemed fair for him to do the same. Thus, Pluto slid forward, circling his striking hand back while jutting out his elbow that struck her in the abdomen, causing the foe to lurch forward upon impact. Those two hits should be enough to hinder the girl from retaliating for a bit. His posture returned back to a casual standing position, glaring at the girl at trying to make a recovery before continuing on.

From the sidelines, Rebecca had gotten her answer about a question that lingered in her mind. Whenever she tried to attack her brother in their little mock combat, the boy never really tried to attack her. It had been her hypothesis that he preferred not to hit girls, but as a witness of this scene, she was proven wrong. Perhaps he simply disliked hurting her in particular. One of her eyes closed shut as the moment that last elbow landed in the gut. It looked extremely uncomfortable to be on the receiving end of that. She began to question if sparring should be this brutal. Still, maybe it wasn’t as bad as it looked if Scarlette could still remain standing after that.

Intriguingly for the siblings, the red-eyed girl dashed forth to continue on their fight. Neither of them had muttered a word, understanding what must be done. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this girl was her ability to take hits and endure the pain. A part of him expected her to fall down at this point, but jolting forth with an onslaught still remained within his expectation. It would take a lot more than that to put her down permanently. The young woman retaliated with an unorthodoxly punch. Using the rotation of her spin, she struck downwards with an arcing arm that struck through the air, aiming at the side of her standing opponent.

One of the best abilities in martial arts was taking full advantage of the enemy’s power. As of right now, this girl wanted to exert a force towards him. Rather than resisting head on, he could turn this situation around into his favor. Stepping to the side, Pluto spun a quarter of the way, entering in a wide stance that was perpendicular to his opponent. Relative to the attacker, his furthest hand clutched the wrist with a vice-like grip, using the tendons of his fingers to enhance the squeeze. It was like clutching someone with a handcuff. The hand that was closer to his opponent grabbed around the inside of her elbow with his palm facing towards him. In this very instant, the intention of his opponent’s attack was striking outwards as well as downwards, and he wasn’t going to prevent that from happening. In fact, he was kind enough to help her by adding his own energy into that very direction. As Scarlette pushed, Pluto pulled. By working together in achieving the same goal, their energies combined as one, more than what one person could handle. The boy placed the majority of his weight onto his furthest bent leg, dropping extremely low towards the ground while tugging the girl’s arm in that very direction. This was the concept of overextending the opponent’s energy.

With the unified power, the energy brought the girl to fall forward with her balance being tugged in that very direction. The skill to combine the energy with one’s opponent required a high-level of timing in order to synchronize with enemy’s movement, but it was actually quite common in the softer styles of martial arts, the ones that allowed even the weakest of humans to be able to even unbalance beings who are larger and heavier. This was also where many joint-controlling techniques could be utilized, and this concept was the prime focus that Rebecca had to learn due to her small and weak frame relative to that of adults.

After releasing his grip, Pluto pushed himself up to a higher stance and then stepping back to give the two of them some space. “There are many ways to handle an attack. What I just did was done by overextending your intended force,” he explained briefly without going into the details. The way he did it was done in a linear fashion from a simple push and pull viewpoint. However, it can also be executed in a circular and spherical manner.

[Vio]

As her clenched fist approached her target, Scarlette Grimm-Rosa smiled slightly, satisfied with the feeling of physical power is it rolled through her body and backed her attack. At first, she had believed this to be desperate attempt at learning new methods, but the similarities between styles was uncanny. Once she had achieved her own understanding of what she was trying to do, the rest of it had come naturally, almost as if she had already been taught how to fight in such a manner. But once more her attack was defended against, Pluto dancing out of the way of her strike and moving in towards her, pivoting about and accepting her strike with his hands. The strength of his grip about her wrist was noticeable immediately, stopping her from doing anything to adjust the direction of her attack, and the soft grin she wore soon turned to a shocked look as the second hand wrapped about the tight sleeve of her dress. In less than a second, the relentless reaper could feel her left foot completely abandoning the sturdy deck upon which they sparred, carried up and over as the effects of gravity seemed to relinquish their grasp upon her form.

He's using my own momentum against me!? Utterly baffled by the progression of actions undergone, the world around her seeming to spiral in slow motion, almost every ounce of energy in Scarlette's body was acting against her wishes. Never before had she experienced anything of the sort, her movements being guided so easily by her opponent as if he were able to control her very mind. Tumbling very nearly head over heels, she landed with a thud upon the hard wooden floor, her left shoulder taking the brunt of the impact. Physical pain was of no consequence, the wrathful woman easily shrugging off such a simple shock. Heck, her own abilities were more painful than an awkward landing! What truly hurt, however, was that she had failed yet again to land a successful hit. By now, her expectations of being able to strike the young man with dark hair were extremely low, but Pluto kept finding knew ways to stay ahead of her. That was aggravating her, forcing her mind into considering new ways of overcoming him.

If I can use a Homunculus to grab his legs and hold him in place, then I should be able to land at least one hit... Bringing herself up from the deck, supporting her weight with one hand as she did so, Miss Grimm-Rosa weighed up her options. Compared to mere punches and kicks, her opponent had unleashed a variety of other moves, but even she could see one consistency. It was obvious before, but she had overlooked it, now recognising it as something of a weakness that the Zoan possessed. He refused to use his legs for anything more than mobility. Every attack he had used so far - the uppercut, the elbow strike, the throw - had all relied upon his arms as the focal point. His legs, in each instance, had been used solely for repositioning himself and controlling the energies that flowed through his form. Even when she had asked to be taught about kicks, Pluto had refrained from using them, instead having Rebecca act as a demonstration. Binding his legs would deny him the privileges that he made such use of.

"Fine then! One last try!" Picking herself up entirely, Scarlette launched herself forwards once more, the distance between her and her adversary substantially greater than beforehand. Plenty of time to make use of her abilities before she came into close combat range. Forward she stepped, keeping her body low so as to accelerate her movements and pulling back her left arm, extending index and middle finger as if they were some sort of blade. From her angle of approach, it was unlikely that Pluto could see what she was doing, the carmine miasma already seeping from the cuff of her sleeve and coiling about her fingers like a ghostly sheath. With her right hand balled, she then feigned a low punch towards the stomach, taking one last step to put herself within arms reach. At that moment, she pushed her left leg forwards, heel of her shoe striking hard against the deck to her foe's flank and acting as an axel upon which she could rotate.

Here we go! A feint likely one of the least expected moves she would ever make, the Offspring woman essentially flipped herself around, knee bending to lower her stance even further and allowing her energised extremities to slice through the timbers of the deck. Across her right thigh the pain shot, creating a wrapping scar beneath her stocking that mimicked the curvature of the dark rift she left behind. In one elegant motion, she raised her body again, now raising her right leg into a spinning kick to try and strike at Pluto's back. Easily the most unorthodox of attacks she had ever unleashed, despite the fact that this was not a matter of life or death, the flicking of her fingers and the whispering of a single word - "Renaissance" - was enough to call upon the final stage of her unusual abilities. As expected, the mix of bloody red liquid and luminous scarlet mist quickly bubbled and swelled from the jagged black etching. But, just as a wide smile had manifested upon her face, she realised something frightening.

"Wh-what? No! Stop!" Her own attack faltering before she even came close to landing a hit, Scarlette tumbled backwards and landed upon her rump, barely flinching as she stared at the conjuring in process. Colour was fast draining from her skin, the bubbling red essence having already grown more than fifty percent larger than she had intended. Just one of her curious carmine creations would have been more than enough to do what she had intended, sticky arms finding their way around one of Pluto's legs in order to hinder his movements, but already that plan had been shot out of the water. Just a matter of seconds passing by, the crimson construct had already reached startling new proportions, the usual Homunculus height of three feet being utterly dwarfed as the amorphous monstrosity surpassed all those present. Six feet. Eight feet. Ten feet. Twelve. More than twice the height of the one who had summoned it, this humongous Homunculus finally ceased to grow upwards and began to finalise its form. A bulky behemoth, it maintained every aspect of its lesser self, a child-like representation of Miss Grimm-Rosa, but had grown to much more formidable proportions...